


Contrast

by atlanxic



Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M, Painting, Relationship Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 18:54:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12847386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlanxic/pseuds/atlanxic
Summary: Once, someone tells Yuusuke that their paintings of Ryuji look to be painted by a different person compared to their paintings of Akira. After considering it for some time, Yuusuke decides to take it as a compliment.





	Contrast

Ryuji always fidgets, when he sits for Yuusuke. Yuusuke has long since given up on calling him on it: he's not aware of how much he moves, and he really is trying. He taps his feet, licks his lips, curls and uncurls his fingers. Yuusuke had seen it as an obstacle, at first. How were they supposed to paint him when he kept moving? Now, they have learned to see it as a welcome challenge.

They allow Ryuji to make small talk while they paint, trying to capture his mouth, not poised in one position but caught strobe-like in the vowels of each word. Fleeting glimpses of what they might be able to capture. The light in his eyes brighter for being engaged, his positions, held for mere minutes, dynamic and fascinating.

Yuusuke's paintings of Ryuji are fast and choppy, energetic and colourful, just a little bit off-kilter. They're unlike anything they had painted before. They're beautiful.

By contrast, Akira sits stock-still. Unflinching, unblinking, silent. He commands a presence in the room, makes the space around him seem more significant just by his presence. Yuusuke doesn't know what he thinks about, while they paint him. They've thought about asking, but in the end, they can't.

Or rather, they don't want to. The idea that Akira is truly as detached and serene as he looks forces Yuusuke to focus, like worship, on each detail. Sometimes they like to think that he knows they imagine each stroke of their brush as a word of praise. That he revels in it, that their paintings please and empower him.

Yuusuke's paintings of Akira are ethereal, poised studies. Each plane of his skin smoothed to perfection, each sunbeam that falls across his shoulders bent to give the impression of a halo. They're beautiful.


End file.
